Loyiso Dyongman’s story about himself and the Open Labs

Loyiso Dyongman is a journalist and author for Times Media (Pty) Ltd writing articles for both local and national media. Born in Grahamstown he now lives in the Enkanini Informal settlement with his mother and little sister. After studying at T.E.M Mrwetyana Senior Secondary School in town he passed his matric in 2003. After that, Read more about Loyiso Dyongman’s story about himself and the Open Labs[…]

awarenet Learners at the National Arts Festival

Our Grade 10 learners got the chance to visit some of the performances at the National Arts Festival 2019 in Makhanda. The festival displayed a big variety of performances. In our weekly sessions we constantly practice writing English texts. The festival gave us the possibility of writing reviews of the performances we could see at Read more about awarenet Learners at the National Arts Festival[…]

Joza Youth Hub Open Day 2019

Every year the organisations of the Joza Youth Hub get together for a day and showcase their work. The fun-filled day was led by Sindi from Upstart as MC. She guided us through the day with huge enthusiasm and motivated the visitors to take part in different competitions. AMP showed off their band skills and Read more about Joza Youth Hub Open Day 2019[…]

awarenet October holiday fun!

The awarenet team were busy doing fun things in and around the computer lab at the Joza Youth Hub this October school holiday! School holidays mean a lot of free time. Instead of laying in bed all day kids from our local area were invited to join our media workshops in the Joza Youth Hub. Read more about awarenet October holiday fun![…]

Photo walk in local township

The colours of the grey streets of Joza came alive for awarenet learners and other local youth who took part in the Photo Walk organised by local newspaper Grocotts Mail. Grocott’s Photo Walk is a joint cooperation with The Stand community newspaper in Syracuse, New York where the two distant communities share photographs and stories. Read more about Photo walk in local township[…]

A trip down memory lane

One year, 12 months, 365 days sounded incredibly long but the time flew by as fast as the airplane that brought us here on the 18th of August 2017. Our year was full of adventures, with positive as well as negative experiences, and daily challenges.  Now we are sitting here and will take a short Read more about A trip down memory lane[…]

Radio interview with awarenet

Earlier this year I was interviewed by Sivuyile Ndawuni from partner organisation Upstart! about how awarenet tries to help improve access to ICT resources in the municipality of Makana where Grahamstown is located. Upstart is an organisation which gives underprivileged youth in Grahamstown high schools the chance to create journalistic products on print, radio and Read more about Radio interview with awarenet[…]

Photography Workshop

Since the beginning of 2017 we have a monthly column in South Africa’s oldest surviving independent newspaper, Grocott’s Mail. You can read more about the project in our blog post about the first school term. Thus, when Grocott’s offered a photography workshop for its community partners, we got an invitation. It took place at the Read more about Photography Workshop[…]

Our first term and journalism project

The first term is already over. It was a busy time and because we had a few beginner groups, it  was also challenging. Some children didn’t even know how to move their mouse, so we stuck to teaching the basics. A lot of things changed during this term, most of them for the better. In Read more about Our first term and journalism project[…]

“We were treated like celebrities” – Puku Story festival 2017

The Puku Story Festival is a festival that is annually held in Grahamstown at settlers monument but this year it was held in the literature museum in Durban street. It took place from the 21st until 25th of february. The festival is basically  about enriching our culture through reading and listening to stories and poetry. Read more about “We were treated like celebrities” – Puku Story festival 2017[…]